Length measuring tape instrument



Nov. 30, 1965 M. QUENOT LENGTH MEASURING TAPE INSTRUMENT Filed June 5, 1963 United States Patent 3,220,112 LENGTH MEASURING TAPE INSTRUMENT Michel Quenot, Besancon, Doubs, France, assignor to Quenot & Cie, Douhs, France Filed June 3, 1963, Ser. No. 285,043 Claims priority, application France, June 26, 1962, 901,960; Germany, June 8, 1962, Q 669 2 Claims. (Cl. 33138) Length-measuring tape instruments are well-known, wherein a yielding tape, made of a suitable undeformable material, is Wound inside a casing and held back by a return spring. When inoperative, the tape is wound and when it is necessary to measure a length, the tape is unwound against the action of the return spring and is held tensioned in its length-measuring condition.

My invention has now for its object an instrument which removes the drawbacks of such prior apparatus and, according to my invention, a slot is provided in the front section of the casing of the instrument, in registry with a nose-shaped edge of the casing wall, said slot being bounded by a surface moving under the action of a releasable pressure member, so that said surface is adapted to engage said last-mentioned stationary edge and to form a brake holding the tape in position.

I have illustrated, by way of example, in the accompanying drawings, a preferred embodiment of my invention.

In said drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side view, partly broken away, showing the operative tape-braking or locking means.

FIG. 2 is a similar view wherein the locking pressure member is in its inoperative condition.

FIG. 3 is a view of part of the instrument as seen from above.

The casing 1 of the apparatus includes two lateral walls associated with connecting walls. In the lower part of the lateral surface 5, openings are provided in which are held the ends of a spindle 2 carrying a double lever 3. Said lever closes the lower opening of the casing, which makes the execution of the instrument a very simple matter. The front section 4 of the double lever 3 is provided with a braking surface 4a made of nylon for instance. The double lever 3 may, in fact, be entirely made of nylon. The front section 4 of the lever is provided furthermore with an axial recess 4b. The rear section 5 of the double lever 3 is provided on the other hand with a blind bore 6 inside which is fitted one of the ends of a spring 7 the other end of which engages a corresponding blind core 8 formed in the lower edge of the rear wall 9 of the casing. The spring 7 exerts an energetic thrust on the double lever in a clockwise direction in a manner such that the braking surface 4a is urged against the terminal nose-shaped edge 11a formed on the lower part of the front wall 10 of the casing.

The measuring tape 13 is clamped between the surface 4a on the lever and the nose-shaped edge 11a and is held in the position given to it during the measuring period. In FIG. 1, the double lever 3 is illustrated in its tapeclamping position while in FIG. 2 it is shown in its tapereleasing position.

The part 11 is rigid with the casing 1 and is provided with a nose-shaped edge may also be made of nylon and it is preferably formed as a unit with the side wall 10. A notch 12 provided in the edge 11 allows the operator to see the figures on the scale carried by the tape 13.

3,220,112 Patented Nov. 30, 1965 The breadth and the length of said notch or gate are slightly larger than that of any one figure defining the subdivisions of said scale. A square-shaped tongue 14 is fitted on the end of the tape to prevent the complete winding of the latter. The rear wall 9 is flat and forms an angle equal substantially to with the direction of unwinding of the tape 13.

The distance separating the outer surface of the rear wall 9 from the extreme parallel surface of the part 11 provided with the nose-shaped edge is equal to 2 in a preferred embodiment of the instrument. It may, of course, be given any other value equal to any suitable number of units of length. It is a comparatively easy matter under such conditions to take inner measurements by introducing the instrument with the tape inside the opening of which the size is to be measured and by unwinding the tape in a manner such that the distance to be measured extends between the free outer end of the tape and the outer surface of the wall 9 of the casing. In the case illustrated in FIG. 3, the result of the measurement made appears as equal to 22" from the free end of the tape up to the reference mark formed by the noseshaped edge 11a to which 22" it is necessary to add the above-mentioned 2" in the case of an inner measurement extending up to the outer surface of the rear wall of the casing.

What I claim is:

1. A length-measuring instrument comprising a casing having parallel side walls and a front wall, a top wall, and a rear wall, a measuring tape coiled within said casing and outwardly extensible over the lower edge of said front wall, said measuring tape being provided with a scale having figures on its upwardly facing surface, a forwardly projecting nose rigid with the lower edge of said front wall disposed overlying said tape and formed with a forwardly open rectangular notch having a breadth in a direction transverse of the longitudinal dimension of the tape such that it substantially matches the size of the scale figures on said measuring tape so that said figures are completely visible through said notch when said tape is extended outwardly of said casing, and said nose being provided with a reference mark comprising a front edge thereof for reading said scale on said measuring tape.

2. A length-measuring instrument according to claim 1, in which said notch breadth is less than the width of the tape and the length of said notch is equal to at least the width of a figure on said scale.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,259,886 3/1918 McLeod 33138 2,076,704 4/ 1937 Carlson 33-138 2,240,753 5/ 1941 Bouchard 33-138 2,512,042 6/ 1950 Stem 33'143 2,575,354 11/1951 Mills 33-138 X 2,695,454 11/1954 Dart 33:28 2,814,881 12/1957 Ljungberg 33-138 3,041,004 6/1962 Busch 33--138 FOREIGN PATENTS 859,955 6/ 1954 Germany.

ISAAC LISANN, Primary Examiner. 

1. A LENGTH-MEASURING INSTRUMENT COMPRISING A CASING HAVING PARALLEL SIDE WALLS AND A FRONT WALL, A TOP WALL, AND A REAR WALL, A MEASURING TAPE COILED WITHIN SAID CASING AND OUTWARDLY EXTENSIBLE OVER THE LOWER EDGE OF SAID FRONT WALL, SAID MEASURING TAPE BEING PROVIDED WITH A SCALE HAVING FIGURES ON ITS UPWARDLY FACING SURFACE, A FORWARDLY PROJECTING NOSE RIGID WITH THE LOWER EDGE OF SAID FRONT WALL DISPOSED OVERLYING SAID TAPE AND FORMED WITH A FORWARDLY OPEN RECTANGULAR NOTCH HAVING A BREADTH IN A DIRECTION TRANSVERSE OF THE LONGITUDINAL DIMESION OF THE TAPE SUCH THAT IT SUBSTANTIALLY MATCHES THE SIZE OF THE SCALE FIGURES ON SAID MEASURING TAPE SO THAT SAID FIGURES ARE COMPLETELY VISIBLE THROUGH SAID NOTCH WHEN SAID TAPE IS EXTENDED OUTWARDLY OF SAID CASING, AND SAID NOSE BEING PROVIDED WITH A REFERENCE MARK COMPRISING A FRONT EDGE THEREOF FOR READING SAID SCALE ON SAID MEASURING TAPE. 